- Watch out
- What it costs
- Experienced readers
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- In BIMpedia
Software, standards and templates are the easy part of a BIM rollout. The hard part is people: busy designers with deadlines, used to a way of working that has served them well. They change when the new way helps them on their own project, and when there is someone to ask when it doesn't.
Change management means helping people move from the old way of working to the new. It covers explaining why, training for the new tasks, supporting people while they learn, listening to problems, and showing that it works.
The whole firm goes on a three-day course in the new tool, months before any project uses it. When the first projects start, people have forgotten most of it, and there is nobody to ask. Deadlines win: they go back to the old way, and the rollout stalls.
Each project team gets two half-day sessions on the tasks they'll do, the week the project starts. A named coordinator checks in every few days for the first month. Problems go on a shared list; the worst ones are fixed in the templates. After three projects, teams start new jobs without help.
A rollout people can follow
| Step | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Explain why | The firm's own problems, from the business case, in plain words |
| Train for tasks | Short sessions on what this project needs, when it starts |
| Support closely | A named person, short check-ins, a list of problems |
| Fix the causes | Slow steps and missing templates fixed centrally |
| Show progress | The business case measures, every quarter |
Pick the best response to each complaint from a project team in the first month.
Answer the complaints
Pick the best response to each complaint in the first month of a rollout.
- “I can’t find the right door type.”
- “Exports take an hour.”
- “Nobody told us why we’re doing this.”
Key takeaways
- Train for the tasks people do on their projects, close to when they need them.
- Support the first projects closely: a named person to ask, short check-ins.
- Expect resistance and listen to it; it often points at a real problem.
- Show progress with the same measures as the business case.